All Star Batman: The First Ally Review

Finished reading All Star Batman: The First Ally, concluding the DC Rebirth as writer Scott Snyder sees Batman and Alfred heading down to Miami on a mission when a dark secret of Alfred's past comes back to haunt him and Batman. The book opens with Batman and Alfred in Miami in a chase with Hush in hopes to infiltrate the exchange of a device called the Genesis Engine as Bruce goes to meet the sellers by pretending to be a disguised Hush. However the deal goes south when the pirates selling the engine know that they are being played and believing that Batman is Hush they begging to attack him. Batman is only saved by a group of Gotham villains believing that he is undercover as Bruce Wayne who what to destroy the engine and with Batman and Alfred continuing their mission Alfred soon discovers that a person from his past is also interested with getting the Genesis Engine. The second story in the book sees Batman going undercover in the Myasnik Family which sends him to Russia in the hope to stop a weapons shipment to Gotham before they can be used to start a gang war. Overall this was a great book as it makes Alfred the main character of the story which allows for some interesting internal dialogue and narration from Alfred's point of view of how he views Bruce as a son while also diving into Alfred's history within the military and what lead to him become the butler for the Wayne's. The character interactions throughout the book is great with how the relationships between characters come into play while within the books main story the interactions between Batman and Alfred feels like their are having some fun in the mission thanks to the inclusion of modern day pirates and how developed the two's relationship has grown over the years. The second story that sees Batman going to Russia in a great addition to the book with how Batman finds himself out of his comfort zone while undercover in a Russian crime family that does some great development for the heads of the family while also having a surprising connection to the man story. The art throughout the book is amazing as its able to differentiate between the different time periods extremely well while also putting a nice amount of focus into the characters interactions with the way that the characters emote along with a great amount of action set pieces thanks to how well it's pasted. 8/10.

Green Lantern: Earth One Volume One Review

Finished reading Green Lantern: Earth One Volume One, introducing Green Lantern into DC's Earth One publication line as the writing team of Gabriel Hardman and Corinna Bechko reimagine Hal Jordan for this alternative universe. The book opens with a team of miners working on an asteroid along the asteroid belt within the solar system when two of the miners Hal Jordan and his colleague Volkov head inside a crashed spaceship where they discover the remains of long dead alien along with a large, deactivated robot in the craft. After leaving to go back to the rest of their team the craft that Hal and Volkov is broken in half when the power ring that Volkov took from the alien activates who's soon leads to Hal using the ring to try and get back to his crew only for the large robot to awaken and attack Hal, who is lucky enough to beat the robot only to find himself lost on another planet where he soon learns truth of the Green Lanterns and the Manhunters that wiped them out. Overall this was a great book as it brings to life a new and different take on Hal Jordan's origin while also keeping familiar elements for DC's main continuity for fans of the character while also being extremely new reader friendly with how the book has its own unique take on the the Green Lantern mythos. There is a nice amount of character interacts throughout the book that also brings some intriguing development to the characters while also helping to expand on the world building by giving enough focus on how each planet and alien spices that Hal Jordan goes to has different beliefs. The art throughout the book is amazing as it puts a great amount of focus on the designs of each character with how the different species of aliens emote and communicate with one another while also having a great amount of emphasis on the sci fi elements of the book with the Earth based technology having a very dark aesthetic while the more alien looking planets and characters being more fantastical in their aesthetic. 8.5/10.

Deadpool 2 Film Review

Finished watching Deadpool 2, directed by David Leitch, and starring Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Stefan Kapičić, Julian Dennison and Josh Brolin. The film opens with Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) on a round the world trip fighting organisation crime gangs before heading home to his girlfriend Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) for their anniversary. However unknown to Wade he was followed which leads to him losing the will to live when Vanessa is coughs in the crossfire. When news of this gains the attention of Colossus (Stefan Kapičić) he takes Deadpool to the X-Men's home where Wade becomes a trainee when a kid named Russell (Julian Dennison) is in need of help after breaking out of an orphanage. This end up going badly for Wade when he finds himself arrested as the situation gets out of hand and while in prison he soon finds himself at odds with the time traveler Cable (Josh Brolin). Overall this was a great film as its able to deliver on the comedy and action parts of the film while also bringing to life a well crafted story that puts focus on some of the film's more emotional moments thanks to the way that relationships between characters are especially with Wade's and Vanessa's relationship which leads to one of the film's most emotional moments. There is a great amount of comedy throughout the film from the fourth wall breaking and self referential jokes that Deadpool makes to the way the some of the cast interact with one another along with how the characters react to events within the film. 8.5/10.

Justice League of America: Panic in the Microverse Review

Finished reading Justice League of America: Panic in the Microverse, continuing the DC Rebirth series as writer Steve Orlando sends the team into the Microverse in hopes to find Ray Palmer, the original Atom. The book opens with a few of the team members on missions while others a have to time to themselves when the current Atom, Ryan Choi calls the team together to ask for their help in trying to find Ray Palmer who is currently lost in the Microverse after finally finding a signal from Ray's size-changing belt and with the team agreeing to help him Ryan goes and builds a ship that will allow the team to travel to the Microverse with the hope to help find and rescue Ray Palmer. Overall this was a great book as it picks up one of the plot points that has been left open since the beginning of DC Rebirth as the team goes into the Microverse to find Ray Palmer which leads to some great interactions with the people that have meet and worked with Ray while also making for a great adventure story with the different locations the team go to in the Microverse with the different locations the travel to. The use of the Ray Palmer centric story in the middle of the book does a great job in showing what Ray has been up to since traveling within the Microverse which also giving the villain of the book a some spotlight on their motivations, while also giving Ray some great development with how he grows and interacts with the small group he's in. The book's artwork is amazing as the locations and different planets look breathtaking in their designs and aesthetics while also bringing a great amount of focus on the character interactions that help to bring a great level of emotion to some scenes. 8/10.

The Hellblazer: The Inspiration Game Review

Finished reading The Hellblazer: The Inspiration Game, continuing the DC Rebirth series as John Constantine finds himself revisit his own past in the form of an old flame while also dealing with a couple of murder cases on both sides of the Atlantic. The book opens with Constantine back in London as he is interrogated by a former girlfriend of his about the previous night as the body of the receptionist at a hotel Constantine was staying at was found in the ventilation system. The case soon leads Constantine on a trip down memory lane as he try's to find who is behind the murder in the hope to clear his name. The second sorry in the book see's Constantine traveling to San Francisco after news of his old friend Cats Molloy has been kill and begins to look into the murder when he gets more information from friend Jenny that Cats isn't the only person to be kill as Constantine soon find himself caught up in San Francisco's own magic circles when he is accused for being the murderer. Overall this was a great book as it brings in a different direction for the book by giving Constantine a more case by case structure with is quite refreshing as it allows to bring in some interesting antagonists and supporting cast members for each story. The art throughout the book is great as it brings the supernatural elements of the book to life extremely well thanks to the designs of the different creatures while also giving a nice amount of detail show off the characters interactions especially with how each art team is able to put focus onto each character's ability to emote. 8/10.

Titans: A Judas Among Us Review

Finished reading Titans: A Judas Among Us, with the events of Lazarus Contact behind them the team find themselves in conflict with one another along with some of the team members relationships being developed further. The book opens with the teams resident telepath Lilith Clay going to meet with Psimon in hopes to get some answers to where H.I.V.E. hid the memories of their teammate Karen Duncan when she finds out that there is a possible traitor within the team. After infiltrating a H.I.V.E. facility and find nothing on the whereabouts of Karen's memories and with everyone knowing that there is a traitor in the team, tensions are high thanks to the amount of distrust leading to Nightwing to use some tech from his Spyral days in hopes to find the traitor which leads to the team heading for H.I.V.E.'s main base of operations to discover some more sinister to be afoot. Overall this was a great book as writer Dan Abnett continues the team's fight against H.I.V.E. with their goal to retire the memories of one of their own members which brings back some of the villains the team has faced while the main villain of the story is a nice twist to what the book sets up and brings an interesting conflict to the book. There is a great amount of character development with how each team member deal with the events of the book and how their relationships are being developed with Garth and Lilith become a couple and friendships being strained between Donna, Wally and Roy when Roy notices Wally and Donna together. The art throughout the book is amazing as each art team is able to deliver on the action with each Titans member's powers and abilities being very prominent. While the more character driven moments are brought to life with a great amount of focus on the factual expressions of each character. 8.5/10.

Nightwing: Blockbuster Review

Finished reading Nightwing: Blockbuster, continuing writer Tim Seeley's time with the character as Dick finds herself against a new version of Blockbuster and his past as a spy comes back into his life once again. The book opens with Nightwing trying to stop a gun fight between two river gangs that have been supplied with some dangerous weaponry that is being brought into Blüdhaven. Meanwhile on the other side of city the villain Tiger Shark has open the Marcus Casino who gets the attention of Roland Desmond the newest Blockbuster after Roland catches a guy cheating Tiger ask ark gives Roland the job in getting Nightwing's attention which leads to Roland putting his own plans into fruition. The next story sees Dick trying to cope the recent death of his friend Giz who was looking into the weapons that were supplied to some of Blüdhaven's criminals which leads to Dick's former partner at Spyral, Helena Bertinelli coming back into his life as she has also been looking into the weapons which the two soon find themselves at odds with the former spy organisation they worked for. Overall this was an amazing book as it introduces a new antagonist in the form of Roland Desmond who is a very intriguing character to go up against Nightwing as they both what to save Blüdhaven in different ways and the amount of backstory that Roland gets helps to sympathise with the character in how his motives effect him. The book also does an amazing in the characters relationship as there are some emotional moment especially between Dick and Shawn that come across like seeing a real relationship at work. While the other interactions with the whole cast of characters help to develop each character while bring some suspense within some scenes while also bring some great comedy especially for some of Dick's dialogue and thoughts. The art throughout the book is amazing as the action, character moments and location designs are brought to life exceptionally well thanks to the amount of detail that has been put into the book which allows the action scenes to hit their mark and the emotional moments having a lasting effect. 9.5/10.

Harley Quinn: Surprise, Surprise Review

Finished reading Harley Quinn: Surprise, Surprise, continuing the DC Rebirth series as writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner continue their time with the character while also being joined by an array of other writers to celebrate Harley's 25th anniversary. The book opens with Harley's parents coming to visit her in Coney Island to see how their daughter is doing with her jobs and in her life as a whole which soon derails when Clock King and Sportsmaster show up to try and rob a restaurant. The next story sees Harley's friends organising a surprise party for her when a group known as the Unconquerable 25 begins to shoot at Harley after the mayor's assistant Masison Berkowitz hired them. The following written by Frank Tieri as Harley going up against the Penguin when he plans on building a casino in Cony Island that will cause people to lose their jobs and homes. The next story has Red Tool asking Harley about what happened when she went to Las Vegas with Catwoman and Poison Ivy on their road trip a while back. The following by Harley co-creator Paul Dini sees the Joker planning a birthday party for Harley when she was sill with him as Harley is feeling down on her own birthday because she's celebrating alone. The penultimate story by writer Daniel Kibblesmith has Harley and Poison Ivy working together with Swamp Thing when he shows up in need of Ivy and her connection to the Green. The final story in the book by writer Chip Zdarsky sets up a fight between Harley and Robin when Batman and the Joker send them away from the main fight to deal with Jokers bomb which allows for Harley to psychology analyse Robin. Overall this was a great book as it continues the series main plot with Harley's fight against the mayor of New York while also bring a great amount of character development to the boo thanks to the inclusion of Harley's parents helps to bring some emotional weight to the book with how they interact with one another. The art throughout book is great as it bring the action, character interactions and comedy all to life extremely well thanks to the detail that goes into each story. While the change art teams works very well for their corresponding stories with how it suits the changing setting and tone of each story.

Batman: Detective Comics: Deus Ex Machina Review

Finished reading Batman: Detective Comics: Deus Ex Machina, continuing the DC Rebirth series as writer James Tynion IV gives Azrael a character centric story as his past has come back into his life this time threatening Gotham itself. The book opens with an old friend of Azrael's walking into a basketball stadium and collapse in front of him, Luke and Kate who all take him to the Belfry where Nomoz warns Jean-Paul of an android named Ascalon who was built by the Order of St Dumas only to turn on its own creators and is now heading to Gotham to kill the last members of the order. Meanwhile Bruce Wayne decides to go to the Iceberg Lounge to meet with his old friend Zatanna who make hold the key in helping him find out some answers through the use of magic. The second story in the book looks in on what Spoiler has been up to since she left the team earlier in the series as she sabotages the Bat signal on top of the GCPD to try and prove that Gotham doesn't need Batman to intervene all the time as only for her needing to help with a hostage situation. Overall this was a great book as the brings a Azrael centric story to the series as Jean-Paul's past at Nomoz comes back into his life which leads to Jean-Paul having some internal conflicts of his own while also dealing with the threat of Ascalon. The secondary story of Batman meeting with Zatanna is great as it dives into the history between the two with how they originally met each other and their interactions with each other feel very genuine thanks to how close they are as friends allowing for some fun moments between the two. The book's art is great throughout as the actin set pieces are draw with a great amount of detail with how each character is position on the page, along with delivering on some great character features and designs with how character interactions come to life and how the book is able to make Bruce and Zatanna look and feel more like teenagers in the flashback scenes compared to present day. 8/10.

Avengers: Infinity War Film Review

Finished watching Avengers: Infinity War, directed Joe Russo and Anthony Russo, and starring Josh Brolin, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr and Benedict Cumberbatch. The film opens shortly after the events of Thor: Ragnorok as Thanos (Josh Brolin) has attacked the Asgardian ship in hopes to get the Space Stone which to the surprise of Thor (Chris Hemsworth) his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) took as they were leaving Asgard. Meanwhile on Earth the Avengers are still dealing with the aftermath of Captain America: Civil War with Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and his team of heroes still in hiding, while Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) is still very active as Iron Man. When he is summoned by Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to help with a problem that needs Tony's attention, Thanos' forces arrive on Earth in hopes to retrieve the Mind and Time stones that are currently on Earth as the two sets of heroes find themselves fighting the same fight on different fronts. Overall this was an amazing film as its able to build a coherent story as there's one part of the film where it splits into four sub stories happening at the same time as Thanos, the Avengers and the Guardians are on multiple different missions which the film is able to juggle between each group of characters extremely well while also catching people up on what has happened between films. The character interactions throughout the film are amazing as they are used to help make more of an impact on some of the more emotionally driven moments thanks to the relationships that have been developed between characters. While also bring about some of the best comedic moments that come from the way that characters who have not interacted on screen before with how their personalities and characteristics come into to play. There's also an amazing amount of character development throughout the film thanks to how the characters are affected by certain parts of the film and how they find themselves in conflict with one another at time. While Thanos gets a surprisingly amount of character development over the corse of the film thanks to the way he comes across as a very sympathetic character as his motivations and level of emotion he has makes him more of a protagonist to the film rather than the antagonist he is which is only because of what his plan consists of and the effects it has on the universe. 9/10.

Batman: The War of Jokes and Riddles Review

Finished reading Batman: The War of Jokes and Riddles, continuing writing Tom King’s run on the series as he dived into an event early in Batman’s career that has haunt him since. The book opens in the early years of Batman’s career as a superhero as the Joker has been leaving a trail of dead bodies all over the city. With the GCPD unable to find any patter in Joker’s crimes to be able to apprehended him they turn to the Riddler for help which they have been doing for sometime however this time Riddler decides to escape capture and plans to meet with the Joker face to face. When the two villains met the Joker decides to shot Riddler pint blank before being chased out by Batman who fails to capture the two as the escaped. Later on when Joker hears the news of Riddler’s recovery he decides to call up Carmine Falcone to kill Riddler only for his men to fail leading to the Joker to take over Falcones operations and beings to build a team of super villains and as Riddler also does this Gotham becomes a war zone over the two factions. Overall this was a good book as it goes into a previously unknown part of Batman’s history as the villains take centre stage in the story as Batman is seemingly one step behind Riddler and Joker with him being unable to stop the war in conventional ways. The addition of the Kite Man centric story within the book is a great way a view on the villains prospective of the war while also giving the characters an interesting backstory that makes him one of the most human characters within the book which is very surprising. The art throughout the book is amazing as there’s a great amount of detail on characters emotions with how everyone interacts with other another to how the Joker looks with a frown instead of a big smile. However what let’s the book down is that the story doesn’t stick the landing as it’s very hard to feel and relate to Batman when it’s revealed what happened which is disappointing when the book also contains some amazing moments. 7/10.